Wednesday, April 23, 2008

last weekend, becky, kandi and i traveled to aguascalientes (a town about 2 hours away) for a student ministry training. we arrived friday afternoon and spent the afternoon/evening shopping and hanging out with another missionary. then we spent all day saturday at the training event. it was hosted by the latin american branch of youthspecialties, whose conferences i have attended in the US a couple of times. it was a long, hot day (it's officially hot season! and there is no air conditioning to be found...) but so good. the speaker was argentinian and his spanish was very difficult to understand, but he had good powerpoint notes and that ALWAYS helps! all in all, it was a really great trip.

this eagle in downtown aguascalientes marks the very center of mexico.we ate dinner at a wonderful restaurant. it was so cute!i snuck a picture during one of the sessions. becky, kandi and i before the last session of the day.

one of my least favorite parts of being a missionary is that we have to say goodbye to people all too often! last week, the haynes hosted a going away party for the treme's and the sorrell's, two missionary families that i have grown to love since coming to Guadalajara. both families are leaving mexico to take on new positions in other locations and even though we hate to see them leave, we are excited for the many things God has in store for them. and the really great part is that i will get to see them both when i go to richmond for debriefing conference in december!

leanne treme and ipatti sorrell (my supervisor) and ilaura, kristy and i at the party

landri is playing soccer this spring and a couple of weekends ago i went to one of her games. although they didn't win this game (they lost in a "double overtime" by one goal), landri scored twice and played great!

Sunday, April 13, 2008

i've been playing around a bit with photoshop this weekend and am pretty pleased with what i've been able to do with some of the pics i've taken recently. aren't these kids just precious?? as my sister reminded me the other day, i am incredibly lucky!

LuisKikeFernandaIsidro (he's one of the craziest kids i know, but loves to look uber serious in pictures!)Kike and IKarinaJanet and KarinaGustavoJorgitoJosue

Sunday, April 06, 2008

woohoo! even though my blogging most of the time is sporadic at best, this post makes 100 posts here. only took me about a year and a half. haha. i wanted to post something a little special and have been thinking for a few days about what to do. then, this afternoon as i walked home after church (well, after a stop at Starbucks!) i was listening to a mix on my ipod and came across the song "stars" by david crowder. and i couldn't help but be taken back to the night i first heard that song. and that is when it hit me. i would do a post about moments in my life that i will never, ever forget. some happy, some sad, but all unforgettable. i won't, however, list 100! i'll leave you with 15. in chronological order, here they are:

going outside the morning after hurricane andrew (i was 8) and being able to see forever because everything had been flattened by the storm.

sitting in math class one tuesday morning at the beginning of my senior year, watching the twin towers on a big screen tv and having another of my teachers come into the room and say "raise your hand if your parents are working in the pentagon today"

pulling up in front of Kerr dorm my freshmen year and having my car unloaded by a bunch of screaming upperclassmen and being amazed at how fast they'd gotten all that stuff out after i'd spent SO LONG putting it in!

casually mentioning to my dad in the walmart aisle a couple of weeks before my first trip to GDL "maybe i'll meet a some great missionaries and wind up going back as a journeyman." haha!

saying goodbye to the precious children i'd gotten to work with for a couple of weeks in Mexico on my first trip to GDL. they were literally pulling on my arms and legs, begging me not to leave as i tried to get in the van to leave that last day. it was then that i knew that a piece of my heart would be here forever and that i had to somehow come back.

sitting in a crater in the middle of the andes mountains in Ecuador with my first MFUGE staff, worshiping around a fire, looking at the stars, first hearing the song "stars" and just being in complete awe of our amazing God.

driving along a road in ecuador, listening to the "share the well" cd by caedmon's call, hearing the opening line to the song "the roses"..."high above the valley of quito..." looking out the bus window seeing the city of quito and realizing that, at that very moment, we were high above the valley of quito

the night before my college graduation. after an evening with all of my extended family and friends who are like family. getting back to my apartment and running around campus in the dark, dressed in black, with my roommates, another friend, and sister taking crazy pictures and jumping in the fountain. realizing it was the last time we would be together like that and trying to soak up every moment.

saying goodbye to a friend before i went to orientation the fall before i moved here and knowing that my life was about to change in every way and that everything would be different the next time we saw each other.

sitting in class at orientation, surrounded by 238 other soon-to-be missionaries, and realizing that these people, who had become like family to me, would soon be scattered all over the globe. literally.

the first time one of the kids from my small group at orientation called me "aunt kim" and realizing just how much of a family we had become. what a unique, amazing bond we all shared and how incredible this mission family really is.

hours and hours of packing for my move to GDL with my friend Cindy helping me and keeping me from really flipping out at the realization that i was MOVING to MEXICO for two YEARS in only FOUR suitcases. slightly overwhelming.

waiting and waiting and waiting the day my sisters arrived for a visit in GDL. glimpsing them through the doors going through customs and FINALLY getting to hug them after way too long.

talking to my grandmother just a couple of days before she died and having her tell me how proud she was of me and her last words to me being "i love you baby. i'll see you in heaven."

arriving in canal 58 (the neighborhood where we hold a kids club each week) and having the van surrounded by sweet kids, so excited we're there, before we can even put the van in park!

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

the haynes are on vacation this week so i'm house/dog sitting. it's quite a circus around here with all three dogs, but oh so much fun. they're just so sweet! i caught them taking their morning nap today. aren't they cute?!? and they just LOVE to cuddle!